The present invention relates to a substitute for the standard sodium chloride table salt to eliminate substantially all of the sodium so that the sodium ratio will be less than 10 miligrams per 100 grams of material which is normally medically considered to be a sodium-free dietetic seasoning suitable for patients required to be on low sodium diets.
Sodium chloride salt is a frequently used ingredient in nearly all prepared foods and is frequently added to foods at the table. Furthermore, sodium is found naturally in the foods we eat, even those picked from the home garden. Sodium in various forms is used as a preservative, and is found in such items as toothpaste, mouth wash and drugs. For such items as hams, bacon, and pickles, salt is an essential ingredient. The average sodium intake is between 2 and 7 grams per day from all sources, including that added at the table or in cooking.
It has long been recognized by medical authorities that sodium tends to cause fluid retention in the body of some patients to an objectionable extent and is harmful to patients with congestive heart disease, hypertension or high blood pressure.
For these and other medical reasons, many persons find it necessary to restrict their sodium intake to well below their accustomed intakes; restrictions vary from 500 milligrams to 3 grams per day. As a practical matter such restrictions require the omission of canned and frozen vegetables, canned or dried soups, canned and frozen meat, fish and poultry, smoked or pickled meat and fish, all items preserved by brining, all packaged cake, cookies, bread and cereal mixes, and all snack items such as crackers, chips, dips, and salted nuts. Hence, for those on very low sodium diets, it is commonly necessary that all foods be prepared at home, without the addition of salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Such diets can be quite restrictive, are usually bland in flavor, and represent a major change in food buying and food preparation habits.
In the treatment of high blood pressure it is common to use diuretics to reduce the fluid content of the body, but this results in such a reduction of the potassium in the body that the patient treated with the diuretic must also take a potassium supplement. Hence, high blood pressure patients, except those also suffering from renal failure, have a need for both a low sodium and a high potassium diet.
In the past, efforts have been made to provide a low sodium seasoning salt by the substitution of potassium chloride for sodium chloride. Past commercial efforts to produce a low sodium seasoning salt have involved various combinations of flavoring, flavor enhancers and buffers with the potassium chloride together with suitable free-flow agents such as silicon dioxide and magnesium silicate. For example, one combination has simply been potassium chloride, tricalcium phosphate as a buffer and magnesium silicate. Another approach has been the combination with the potassium chloride of monopotassium glutamate, tartaric acid and silicon dioxide. Other formulations have involved the use of glutamic acid than the glutamate together with suitable buffers. The potassium chloride has also been supplemented by other salt substitutes such as ammonium chloride and calcium chloride.
The resulting commercial products have produced flavors which are objectionably bitter to many people whether used in cooking or sprinkled on their ready-to-eat comestibles. Some produced a particularly bitter flavor if added during cooking of the food, and hence could only be used after cooking. The products have also been so concentrated that they could not be used commercially in food recipes in the same weight amount as specified for ordinary table salt, or in the home in the same volume amount as specified for table salt.